Placebo
by apollo-gize
Summary: Placebo- a substance having no effect but given merely to satisfy a patient who supposes it to be a medicine. In the aftermath of Osaka Castle, Kojyuuro finds himself becoming one. BL, ONE Sided Masamune/Kojyuuro, mentions of Masamune/Yukimura, ONESHOT


**Placebo**

**Not only did the second season come out, Basara 3 is still scheduled for release in September/October, so I'm very pleased.**

**Character Death - One sided Masamune/Kojyuuro - Mentions of Masamune/Yukimura  
**

* * *

Four days. Four days since Oshu received the news of Osaka Castle. Four days since the rivalry of the century came to an abrupt close. Four days since the One Eyed Dragon had refused to leave his lair.

Five days since Yukimura Sanada was killed.

Kojyuuro had only seen Masamune like this twice. One when his own mother professed her hatred for her first born child, and again when Masamune was ordered to fire on and kill his own father. He was able to recover from the first two with relative ease (hatred may have been a contributing factor), but the death of the Crimson Hero? Yukimura Sanada may have been the only person Masamune cared for, or even loved as much as himself.

Evening had fallen, and Kojyuuro had stopped in front of the rice paper doors only to collect another virtually untouched meal. He turned to leave, but the sliding of lacquered wood against lacquered wood stops him.

"Kojyuuro."

Kojyuuro doesn't turn around, but a hand grips the fabric of his kimono. His lord needs him. For what, he's not sure, but his duty is to be there.

Even in the low lighting provided by a few candles, Masamune's poor condition is visible. He looks paler, tired; his remaining eye is red-rimmed, his gaze clouded with the haze of sake, and the sickly sweet smell lingers on his clothes.

"My lord?" Kojyuuro asks cautiously, looking at Masamune. The young man gives him a crooked grin, walks over, and pulls him over to his futon.

"Sit down," Masamune orders, and Kojyuuro obeys. The young man follows suit, and before the older man is aware of what is occurring, he finds hands on his chest, having found their way inside his kimono, and Masamune's face unnervingly close to his own.

"Now, don't say anything," his lord instructs, before kissing him. Kojyuuro doesn't move. He doesn't think. It's taking everything he has to keep breathing. What is his lord thinking? His eyes flick around the room, before returning to the young man in front of him. Masamune's single eye is closed, almost clamped hut. Kojyuuro would have never caught on, had he not heard him barely whisper one thing. One thing that caused the entire facade to slip.

"...Yukimura..."

So that's what it was. It was almost a relief. But what it truly was, was heartbreaking. He, Kojyuuro Katakura, the Right Eye of the Dragon, was being used as a cheap replacement for the one thing Masamune Date craved most.

He was a placebo. Nothing more. He was foolish to even begin to think it was anything beyond drunken affection.

His lord carried on, kissing, nipping, hands on his chest or shoulders. He had been told not to speak, but nothing was said against attempting to reciprocate, especially if the great lord of Oshu had been degraded to desperate fantasies of a lover lost to war. Kojyuuro unfroze, and put his hand on Masamune's arm, and kissed him lightly.

And that was all it took. The illusion shattered, Masamune's hands flew of Kojyuuro, his stormy gray eye snapped open, and he recoiled from the other man. Wide eyed and angry, he stood.

"No...! No...! Kojyuuro! I told you! I... No... You're not him. Everything... Everything's wrong. What happened...? You're nothing like him. He would have never...!" Masamune growled, looking at Kojyuuro with disbelief and hurt.

Kojyuuro took a step towards him, but Masamune stumbles back, shaking his head.

"It's... It's not.. It's all wrong," he whispers, and Kojyuuro felt a twang of pity.

"I'm sorry, my Lord," he says, bowing low, before taking his leave.

He closes the door, and continues his original chore.

It was a funny thing about placebos. Sometimes, even with the strongest belief, they can never match the real thing.

* * *

**MMKAY I KNOW PLACEBO IS A MORE MODERN PHRASE**

**I just thought it would make a good premise for a fanfiction.  
So yeah. Perhaps, if Masamune lost Yukimura, he would turn to Kojyuuro? It's a common plot device when characters delude themselves into trying to believe that they are romancing someone else, so, just maybe I could use it in a tragic situation with Masamune.**

**I write all my stories late at night.**

**Reviews are always appriciated!  
_Always._  
**


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